This restaurant on Ballinger Way and Highway 104 will be torn down to make way for Panera Bread Bakery Cafe. (Photos by Lara Alexander)

By Lara Alexander

What’s coming in food?

Panera Bread Bakery-Cafe has plans to open its doors in Edmonds. Panera Bread has submitted a conditional use permit application to the City of Edmonds for a new building on the current site of Barlee’s Restaurant at 7929 Ballinger Way. The plans include a drive- thru and outdoor dining with 39 patio seats. A public hearing for the outdoor seating use is currently scheduled for Thursday, April 21.

Panera Bread’s Bakery-Cafes offer a fresh bakery menu of breads, bagels and pastries with a cafe menu of made-to-order deli and grilled panini sandwiches built on their own fresh- baked breads, hand-tossed salads, and a daily selection of soups served in a bread bowl.

New restaurant businesses are good for Edmonds’ tax base, said Stephen Clifton, Edmonds’ Director of Community Services/Economic Development. Unlike grocery stores, restaurants collect tax on sales, which generates funds for the city, Clifton said.

Currently, Panera Bread has 1,453 locations across North America under the Panera Bread, Saint Louis Bread Co. and Paradise Bakery & Café names. Locally, Panera Bread can be found at the Alerwood and Northgate malls, and in central Seattle and Redmond.

Revelations Yogurt may be in this spot on Main Street by this summer.

Revelations Yogurt has plans for the now-empty spot on Main Street between Farmers Insurance and Kara Nails. The frozen yogurt shop has a tenant improvement building permit under review with the city. Hopefully all will go well and Edmonds folks will be licking sweet frozen treats as they stroll around Main Street this summer.

PCC Cooks

PCC’s summer schedule of cooking classes is ready for registration. Some classes are already full, so interested cooks-in-training should hurry over to the website to make their choices soon! There are still many good classes available including many varieties of ethnic food, cooking basics and classes for children. These one-time classes typically span three hours and cost between $35 and $55, with members enjoying a $5 discount.

Looking for free food fun? Whether you are new to PCC or have shopped there for years, anyone is welcome to take the free 90-minute class and tour the aisles of the Edmonds store on Edmonds Way. Learn about your choices in organic produce and sustainably produced items, and taste products you may not have tried before. This fun, informative and free Walk, Talk and Taste class takes place on Friday, June 3 from 10-11:30 a.m., registration required. Everyone on the tour will receive a $10-off coupon for store merchandise.

A culinary adventurer, Lara Alexander grows, cooks and writes about food from her home in Edmonds. You can read about her garden and kitchen fun on the blog Food-Soil-Thread.

Slowly, but surely, it looks like our business recruiting efforts are paying off. Now, it’s up to us citizens to help make them a success.

I will begrudgingly do my part by partaking in frozen treats this summer, and enjoying outdoor dining at Panera….. and FIVE, and Red Twig, and anywhere else that can provide outdoor seating during our all-too-brief summers.

Commenting Policy

We welcome comments on all posts at My Edmonds News. To encourage constructive community dialogue, all commenters must use their real names, first and last. Comments from users with names that don't comply with this policy will be removed. We also ask that you comply with our Code of Conduct policy, which you can view here.